Union of Tears
by anonymouslywriting4life
Summary: An alternate ending to William Golding's Lord of the Flies. If the masks all came off...


**Disclaimer: Do not own. All William Golding's.**

_He saw a shelter burst into flames and the fire flapped at his right shoulder and there was a glitter of water. (_pg. 198) Glimpsing a spot of red, he whipped around and stumbled on a root. Grimacing in pain, he felt his body slide forward unable to catch itself. Suddenly something warm and _alive_ slammed into him, knocking him forward into the water. With wide eyes and panicked breath, he caught a glimpse of a stick…sharpened at both ends. He sucked in a breath and choked, spewing water into the red-haired boy's eyes.

"Arghh!" They rolled around in the water, switching sides constantly. First Ralph on top of Jack, then vice versa, over and over again, and they were slowly tiring out. All of a sudden, Jack, in a surprising move, flipped Ralph over, pinning his arms above his head. Snarling, he pushed him down under the water, not letting him up for air. Ralph struggled violently, thrusting his knee up in desperation. A garbled cry sounded above him, and he felt the grip on his neck and arms loosen. Taking advantage of this, he shot up and gasped for breath, breathing in pure bliss. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed Jack, and they rolled around once more. Ralph scratched at the fiery-haired boy's face feeling pieces of paint come off in between his fingernails.

"NO! NO! NO!" Jack attacked Ralph with new desperation, feeling his only disguise coming off between his fingertips, knowing without it he would not be able to do what he came to do. Sucking air in his teeth, Ralph jumped on Jack and pinned him in the sand, staring straight into his blue-green eyes while panting heavily. Jack beat the sand weakly with his fists, his double-pointed stick lying too far from his reach. His face lay naked for Ralph to see, traces of paint still around his eyes. With the paint gone, so was his will to fight or do anything really. Slowly, all the little savages surrounded them in silence, the one called Roger closest to the pair. Jack barred his teeth weakly and attempted to push Ralph off of him. Ralph hissed and pinned his wrists above his sand-flecked hair. Jack swallowed; Ralph was so close that he could feel his breath.

"Why?" He breathed, his nose almost touching Jack's. A dart of pink slipped between his teeth and across his lips for a quick second.

"WHY?" He shook Jack desperately, wearing a half-crazed look. Jack's head snapped back and his eyes rolled back into his head. Ralph suddenly let him go and stood up.

"Kill me then! Just kill me! I don't want to live anymore!" Ralph's sobs wracked his body. Jack's eyes widened, and he looked inside himself for that rage he'd felt earlier. Nothing. He started to say something but stopped, faltering over his words.

Suddenly Roger was next to him, looking at him with those eyes filled with freezing fury, shaking him, silently asking for permission. He shoved Roger off and looked at Ralph, confusion tearing his insides. Ralph lay in the sand, his eyes closed, tears leaking out, and his small body shaking with the sobs. Jack bit his lip and glanced at Roger and Ralph worriedly. He did not even know what he wanted anymore.

With the mask gone, his determination was gone too. No longer did he want chaos; he just wanted to go home. Roger glared venomously at him, almost as if knowing what he was thinking, and he could not take it, not anymore. Out of the deepest parts of his body, the hidden part of his heart where he was still civilized—as much as a pre-pubescent boy could be—the sadness clawed out of him. Tears leaked out of his sea foam eyes and the sobs shook his body, broke his heart into a million pieces. Glancing at Ralph through blurred eyes, the tears united the two previous enemies. Soon the entire group of children, for that is what they were now, no longer savages, just children, were following in suit, wallowing in their own types of miseries, but united in the universal sorrow of the island. Ralph and Jack ran toward each other and wrapped their arms around one another, reveling in the feeling of comfort one can get from something as simple as a hug.

The boys, one the symbol of humanity, the other the one for chaos, finally reached the perfect union that they had been struggling for a reason to all along: a common ground, or in this case, a common feeling.

Unbeknownst to them, the flames from the burning island had created large plumes of smoke drifting into the air like a giant beacon. The tiny spec on the horizon that no boy saw started to become larger and more defined. A horn blasted the air, mingled with the children's cries, becoming warped and unidentifiable. The shape came steadily closer.

A dark-haired boy with a calculating mind slipped from the crowd, the only one of them seemingly unaffected by the epiphany of feeling. His eyes filled with that blank, cold _hate,_ he walked into the fiery-forested island, walked in as if he would not get burnt.

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><p><strong>AN: So yeah...this was an English assignment and I really liked it. I might rewrite a little though and make it REALLY JackxRalph if you know what i mean...-wink, wink-**

**But yeah...just tell me what you think!**

**REVIEWS ARE LOVE!**


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